


Recovery

by salt



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Humanstuck, M/M, Memory Loss, Post-Game, mental institutes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-10
Updated: 2014-10-21
Packaged: 2017-11-24 09:00:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/632680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salt/pseuds/salt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-sburb. All the kids, trolls and cherubs have been turned human and planted on Earth. The memories of SBURB are buried deep in their subconscious, and though Dirk and Roxy may remember, it seems no one else does.<br/>Its five years after the game and things are slowly returning to normal, until Dirk stands up for a new-artist he finds to actually be an old enemy. Will things be different, now that memories are missing? What happens when the old memories are sparked?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bullies

**Author's Note:**

> Im writing this for myself for the most part, because i drew a picture and it was pretty so i wanted to write this. If you want to give critiques or something you can, but I probably wont pay much attention to it because, like i said, im doing this because i feel like writing it.  
> THis is a Dirkuu fic and they are probably going to be eventully ooc and i can't remember or be bothered to look up all their little quirks and details so...  
> This will be sad and scary and cute and wtf so enjoy

His name is Dirk Strider, and it’s been five years since the life-changing game of SBURB ended. The world has seemed to return to a regular earth, his friends though, Jane and Jake… They didn’t remember the game at all at first. It took a long while before their memories were sparked, though some things still seem to confuse them. Roxy remembered. He remembers after they first woke up on this regular earth, he spoke to Jake and Jane and considered that maybe it really was a dream. But Roxy remembered. Her land, their adventures, The Condesce, Calliope, Dream Bubbles… It was real. It really happened, and he saw familiar faces while he lived. Before he moved, he saw his alternate/non-brother Dave on a couple occasions. He didn’t remember him, but there was that tense air, like there were things to be said but no words to form them. Deja-vu in a way. Shortly after returning to his home, he moved to New York to be with Roxy and even she couldn’t handle seeing her young/non-mom about. They both moved across the border, to Canada.

Dirk started school; he worked DJ-ing at clubs at night and spent his days in art school. He figured with the right credentials, he could start animating his own work professionally. One of his classes had artists varying from starters to advanced and… some of the less experienced students weren’t really respected for their efforts. It was about a month into the semester and Dirk had noticed a few of the students picking on one of their classmates. He ignored it at first, but it got worse, and it got to the point that he had to say something.

  “Why are you even in this class?” A boy would snirk.

  “Honestly, we just want to make sure you aren’t wasting your time on something you can’t do.” His friend would snicker. “And sorry, but art isn’t your forte.”

The kid just sat there, black hair hanging in his face as he hunched over his sketchbook, scribbling absentmindedly.

  “Hey, don’t you have something better to do than pick on this kid?” Dirk broke in and the three students looked up. The one girl in the group barely held back a swoon. “Just because you can draw still life, and somebody else can draw cartoons, doesn’t mean they’re any less talented that you. They’re just talented in a different way.”

  “Oh hey look, it’s Dick Rider.” Snorted one of the guys, the girl standing with them gave him a firm shove in the ribs with her elbow.

  “ _Shut up_.”

  “I really didn’t expect to find people like you in an art class.” Dirk said.

  “Whatever, you anime freaks can do what you like.” The second guy dismissed Dirk and the boy before leaving, the first boy followed and the girl gave a sheepish smile before heading after them.

Dirk let out a sigh and then looked down at the boy, from this angle all he could see was the back of his head and the drawing under his hands. The art wasn’t bad at all, it was just… scattered. Scribbly, as though it was drawn by a shaky hand. 

  “Hey, you okay?”

The kid turned his head, allowing himself to look up.

One look into those red eyes and Dirk’s blood froze.

Narrowed red eyes lined with dark bags stared through shaggy black bangs up into Dirk’s orange ones. His face was stuck in a permanent scowl, which would have been more intimidating if the boy’s face wasn’t so feminine, and he wasn’t wearing a red bowtie and green suspenders contrasting with his black t-shirt.

Those eyes, that scowl, that outfit.

  “Caliborn?” It was more than a statement than a question. He hadn’t even meant to say it out loud.

  “Wow, someone in this class actually knows my name? Big fucking surprise.” He turned back to his sketchbook. “I didn’t ask, for your shitting help, go back to your easel, or whatever the fuck. I’m busy.”

The pauses in his voice… Dirk couldn’t believe it. He even had red swirls scrawled onto his cheeks in red paint.

  “You’re… Caliborn. Well shit… How did you…” Dirk took a seat next to the boy who looked up in alarm at this movement.

  “What the fuck do you think your doing? What do you want?”

  “Don’t you recognize me? Actually, I don’t think I want you to recognize me but… Y’know, Dirk Strider?”

  “I don’t give a shit who you are, leave me alone.” Caliborn looked back to his book, doodling some boxes.

It was Caliborn. It was fucking _Caliborn_. He was dead. He was killed during the game and yet here he was, fun on human. Fleshy flesh and no skeletal green claws or fangs or anything. Dirk always felt some form of excitement when he met someone he knew from the game, but this was… It was eerie. This guy had tried to kill him and his friends, succeeded on multiple occasions and helped destroy Jane’s self-esteem, Jake’s loyalty and Dirk’s own sense of self.

And yet here he was. Helpless and ignorant just like any other human.

  “Calliope.” Dirk said suddenly.

The boy looked as though he’d been punched. He looked up at Dirk, so visibly shaken that he looked as though he may throw up.

  “ _What did you just say?”_

  “Calliope. Where is she?”

Caliborn swallowed nervously, his mouth dry.

  “…That’s… My sister…”

  “Where is she?”

  “She’s… She’s…” There was panic in his eyes for a moment, before it exploded into anger. He pushed out of his seat and away from Dirk, throwing his sketchbook at the blond boy.

  “Who the fuck are you? What do you want? How do you know me or Calliope?” He snarled in anger, but there was still that panic on his face.

The professor had noticed now and called them out.

  “Hey, Caliborn sit down! What are you doing? Dirk?”

Caliborn pointed to the teacher.

  “FUCK you and fuck him and fuck this entire school!” And he ran out of the class.

Dirk rose up, holding the kid’s sketchbook and looking to the teacher.

  “Sorry, my fault. I just… Can I go after him?”

The entire class just stared.

  “Yeah, I’ll just go.”

So he went.


	2. Left handed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have a lot planned for this fic, updates just might be sparce. stick around though, itll be a doozy

He really should have just let him go.

  “Hey, Caliborn! Wait up.”

The boy was a few feet ahead and as soon as Dirk called his named he stopped in his tracks and turned on his feet.

  “Who the _fuck_ do you think you are? What do you know?” Caliborn snarled.

Dirk paused. He didn’t know this Caliborn. This _human_ Caliborn. Who knew how unpredictable he could be?

He figured he’d fuck around anyways.

  “Do you remember ever playing a game? A game with your sister?”

Caliborn’s narrowed eyes were filled with panic.

  “We played games all the time.”

  “Chess?”

The black haired boy was stunned into silence. Dirk continued.

  “Do you remember anyone by the names of Roxy, Jane or Jake?”

  “Jake?” The name hissed through Caliborn’s lips.

Dirk nodded.

  “What about li’l Cal?”

Caliborn frowned, but his eyes remained wide and glued on Dirk.

  “You’re speaking of names I’ve only heard in dreams. Are you psychic or some bullshit?”

So he was in there then.

  “Where’s Calliope?”

The curiosity that had been growing in the boy’s red eyes flashed into rage as he growled.

  “Why the fuck do you care about Calliope? That stupid cunt is where she deserves to be and she’s never coming back!” and before Dirk could get in another word, Caliborn whipped around and sprinted down the hall and down the steps to the courtyard.

Dirk didn’t follow. He only wondered what Roxy would think of all this.

 

  “YOU FOUND CALLIOPE?”

She shot up from her upside-down seat on the couch, pink eyes wide.

  “No, I found Caliborn and it doesn’t even sound like Calliope’s alive by the way Cal was talking about her.”

Roxy sat up straight and huffed, a fire burning in her eyes.

  “No WAY! Everyone was brought back, you saw your brother didn’t you?? Calliope _has_ to be alive!”

Dirk sighed.

  “Maybe she was initially, but if Caliborn really hasn’t changed, what makes you think he wouldn’t kill her again?”

  “Dirk you hafta find out where she is and what happened to her!!” Roxy persisted, lunging forward to grip Dirk’s hands.

  “Please please _pleasepleaseplease!!!_!”

He rolled his eyes behind his shades, tugging his hands away from his best friend.

  “Fine, okay? Maybe. I’ll see what I can do, but this new Caliborn doesn’t like me too much already.”

  “THANK YOU DIRK!” Roxy squeezed him tight around the waist and giggled. After the death-lock hug she hopped into the kitchen and popped open a bottle of wine.

  “I say we celebrate with a drink!”

  “Roxy, it’s three o’ clock.”

  “Then we should celebrate with three drinks!”

Dirk couldn’t help the smile tug at his lips now, giving in as Roxy poured him a glass of wine. Alcohol was not his thing, but every once and a while he let Roxy pour him a glass of wine… or several shots of vodka. Like she said, celebratory.

 

* * *

 

The next day Dirk planned to confront Caliborn again, except with better tactic. When art class came around, the prof gave instruction and then left them to their work. Dirk quickly scribbled out his design and then made his way over to Caliborn’s table.

The kid was scribbling away desperately with his right hand, cursing as his pencil broke.

  “Hey.”

He looked up and scowled.

  “What do _you_ want.”

  “Teacher told me to come help you out.” Dirk lied.

The kid’s jaw dropped for an instant before he snapped it back up into his scowl.

  “I don’t need any help.”

  “Okay. Can I just see how you draw, then?”

Caliborn wrinkled his nose but nodded.

  “Just keep quiet, and don’t touch me.” He grumbled, scratching out a shaky circle.

As Dirk watched him draw he let his thoughts wander. Maybe he shouldn’t help Caliborn remember. Sometimes Dirk himself wished he didn’t remember the horrors of the game. He still had nightmares. Who knows what damage Caliborn would do in this world anyways? If he remembered and then went on a murderous rampage, it would be Dirk’s fault. Though…

He caught a glimpse of the boy’s red eyes, which showed a powerful determination as he drew.

Maybe, Dirk could help him. What if he re-introduced him to his friends? Things would be different, maybe the kid could have a chance at a regular life, not one ruled by hate and games.

Caliborn’s drawing was what Dirk assumed to be a giant clock, but Cal’s lines were scratchy and jagged. No wonder, he gripped the pencil in his fist like it was a weapon.

  “Hey,” Dirk started, Caliborn shot red daggers back at him. “Have you ever tried drawing with your left hand?”

The boy’s gaze faltered and he blinked.

  “Wh- Well, _No_. My sister was left handed… I’m right handed though.”

  “Have you ever tried?”

  “Why bother if I know I’m right handed?”

He was just being stubborn now.

  “Come on, just try it.”

  “No!”

  “Yes.”

  “No.”

  “Yes.”

  “NO.”

  “Yes.”

  “FINE FUCKING FINE.” Caliborn’s face was red with frustration as he switched hands, turning the page in his sketchbook with the other.

  “This is fucking _stupid_.” He mumbled, scribbling onto the page, drawing the clock again. Though Dirk was sitting a couple feet away, he could feel the boy go rigid as the face of the clock was scrawled out in a smooth circle.

Caliborn’s eyes were wide and his lips were parted slightly as he stared at the clock, and then to his hand.

Dirk let himself chuckle and the boy made a face.

  “There’s lesson one, keep practicing.”

Dirk rose from his seat and gave Caliborn a light pat on the back before moving back to his seat.

When he glanced back at Caliborn, the boy was still staring at his sketchbook, pencil poised in his left hand. His face red from embarrassment.

Even through his shades and the boy’s scowl, however, he could still see a glow of accomplishment shining in the boy’s eyes.


	3. Bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating in so long, and i know this chapter is short but I figured i should post it because well... I'm busy and i feel bad because its short. I know where this is heading, just getting to that part is hard because i want it to get excitingn NOWKEJHGS  
> anyways.... Here's chapter 3!

Things moved slowly for the next couple weeks, Dirk worked on his own projects, but kept an eye on Caliborn. He continued to help the kid out with his shapes and as long he didn’t mention Calliope or ask any personal questions, Caliborn wasn’t too hard to get along with. One day, while sitting next to each other, Caliborn broke the silence, and all the rules that Dirk had made in order to keep the dark haired boy from exploding in a fit of rage.

  “How did you know I was left handed?”

Dirk continued sketching.

  “I was the same way when I was a kid, I didn’t want to be weird and use my left hand so I tried with my right. I couldn’t draw a straight line and I sure as hell couldn’t swing a sword. My bro came over to me when I was nine, pulled the sword from my grip and put it in my other hand. Now I’m an artist and a master swordsman.” And a hero of heart.

Caliborn looked up.  “You’re a master swordsman?”

The sketch Dirk was drawing had turned into an image from the game. All of their god-tiers… Callie was there too. Caliborn was…

Dirk turned the page.

  “Yeah, my bro taught me.”

Caliborn huffed. “My dad used to take me hunting.”

Dirk glanced at Caliborn out of the corner of his eye. He guessed it would make sense for the game to create memories for those who actually… Didn’t remember the game itself.

  “He took me and my sister, but she always hated it.” He added on, his tone quieter. This caused Dirk to turn his head to look at Caliborn. This was the first time the boy had offered any information about Calliope.

  “Oh really? Guess your sister’s not the violent type?” Dirk leaned his elbow on the table, resting his chin on his hand.

  “Hah, Fuck no. She’s fucking nuts too.” Ah, he used present tense there. Dirk’s pulse heightened. So Calliope was alive.

He decided to take a risk.

  “How old is your sister?”

The boy started his hand at shading the skull he was drawing.

  “We’re twins. She’s older by eight minutes though.”

  “Eight minutes?”

Caliborn chewed on the eraser end of his pencil. 

  “I didn’t want to come out, I guess.”

Dirk chuckled and watched Caliborn growl at his paper before crumpling it into a ball and starting a new page.

  “You don’t talk about your sister much.”

Caliborn made a face.

  “That’s because she was a stupid cunt.” Past tense again.

  “Is she in school?”

Caliborn shook his head.

  “She’s too stupid for school.”

Dirk had to stop himself from grinding his teeth.

  “Is she travelling?”

  “No.”

  “Where is she then?”

Caliborn pushed out of his chair and glared down at Dirk.

  “Why do you care about my sister so fucking much?”

Dirk mentally cursed himself for overstepping his boundary.

  “I’m just trying to get to know you better.”

  “Through my sister?”

  “I get to know people by learning about their past and their family.” It wasn’t a straight out lie… Okay he almost never tried to dig into other people’s lives but this was a different situation.

  “Yeah we’ll I’d prefer if you didn’t try and burrow your way into my life.” He hissed before picking up his book and moving to a different table.

This was going to take some time. 


	4. Getting somewhere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so people have commented on my spelling and grammar on this and other fanfics and i appreciate you pointing it out but i dont care enough or have the time to go back and fix it. I tend to forget things when im feverishly typing away.   
> go right ahead and tell me though if you notice something, i appreciate the comments so i can make sure to fix them in the future, you just have to understand that im not going to fix it in past chapters.

Dirk was sitting at the starbucks down the street from his apartment. He was typing away at his laptop while he balanced his cellphone; pressed between his shoulder and his ear.

  “And so I said, ‘Sorry pal, you’re a good guy’, Cause he is a good guy, ‘but I’m just not really looking for a relationship right now’.”

Dirk sighed into the phone.

  “Hey Rox, listen… you know I’m here for you, but could we talk about something else?”

  “Oh, yeah sure Dirky! No problem. What do you want to talk about?”

  “Well I was hoping to talk to you about Caliborn.”

Normally Roxy brought him up and started asking questions at dinner or in the morning… Or whenever she could, but she was invited to a girls-weekend-out with Jane. Which was about a three-hour drive.

  “Oh BOY! What about him? Have you made any progress?” Roxy was all ears.

Dirk saved the file he was working on and shut his laptop. Progress? Dirk was pretty sure this Caliborn already hated his guts.

  “Well, not really. What I wanted to talk to you about was, well, how to approach him. He damn near rips open my throat when I try to bring up his sister.”

  “WHAT?”

  “Figure of speech, he’s not as psychotic I promise.” Dirk calmly took a sip from his coffee and leaned back in his chair.

Roxy grumbled in response before piping up to ask some questions, however something had caught Dirk’s eye.

The door to starbucks swung open and he cocked an eyebrow. In walked the shaggy haired, suspender wearing aspiring artist himself.

  “Speak of the devil.”

  “What? Is he there? OMG!”

  “I’m gunna have to call you back Rox.”

  “Hehe, okey-dokey Dirky! Call me back if you get any deets!”

He tapped the end-call button on the screen and watched Caliborn walk into the store. His stride was confident, but his shoulders were hunched. He marched right up to the counter, budging in front of a middle-aged woman and ordered eight cake pops and a carmel topped latte with extra whipped cream. A smirk played on his lips and he decided to pack his laptop back into his satchel and make his way over to the boy, coffee in hand.

By the time he had made his way over to him, Caliborn was adding extra sugars to his drink, mumbling to himself.

  “Hey.”

Caliborn flinched as he jumped around to face Dirk.

  “Wh- YOU! What do you want?”

  “Nice to see you too.” Dirk smirked and leaned against the counter.

  “What are you doing here?” Caliborn hissed, turning back around to empty another sugar packet into his drink.

  “Same as you, relaxing on a Saturday. Getting coffee.”

Caliborn snorted.

  “Hardly relaxing. I just wanted to get the fuck out of my house.”

  “So sugar and caffine are the cure?”

He ignored him, adding another sugar packet. Dirk leaned over his shoulder, purposefully getting too close for comfort.

  “What some coffee for your sugar?”

  “Would you just fuck off?” Caliborn growled, shoving Dirk back and pushing past him. Dirk followed right behind him as he made his way out the door of the starbucks and started heading down the street.

  “Just trying to lighten the mood dude, I wanted to apologize for asking stupid questions the other day.”

  “Fuck yeah they were stupid.” He grumbled. Dirk considered where he could go from here. How far was he willing to go to manipulate this kid to figure out what had happened to Calliope? On some levels, Caliborn deserved to have his life suck a bit, after what he’d done in the game. But on other levels, this was a fresh start. He was just a human here.

Dirk decided to start a fire on the clean slate that was human Caliborn.

  “Look, I just want to help you out and maybe make a friend, alright?”

This made Caliborn stop.

  “What?”

  “You’re pretty cool, you’ve got a temper sure but I wanted to try to hang out sometime. You haven’t made getting to know you easy though.”

Dirk was pretty sure this was sounding a bit too friendly. They’d only known each other for a few weeks.

  “Yeah well maybe you’re bad at making friends.”

Dirk took another sip of his drink.

  “Well you look like you need some.”

Caliborn turned around and scowled.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

Dirk raised one hand defensively.

  “Nothing. Not everything is a threat, y’know.”

Caliborn narrowed his eyes but let himself stand slightly taller.

  “So. You want to ‘hang out’ with me?”

Dirk let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding.

  “Yeah.”

  “Fine. What are you doing now?”

  “Talking to you.”

Caliborn punched his shoulder and Dirk would have smirked if the kid hadn’t punched so hard.

  “What do you want to _do_ , shithead?”

  “Well where were you heading?”

Caliborn huffed and considered not answering…

  “The park by my house.”

  “Lets go then.”

And so they started walking, Caliborn leading. Dirk walked after him, throwing out his empty cup on the way, and allowing himself a smile when the shorter boy wasn’t looking.

  “And you better not be hitting on me.”

This time Dirk laughed, which earned him another firm punch to the shoulder.

Now, he was getting somewhere.


	5. English Estate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO SORRY for such a long wait! My school play is over, so chapters to all of my fanfics should be coming out more frequently c: 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this!

The sun was just beginning to set when Dirk decided he should be heading home. He and Caliborn had spent the past few hours just sitting at the park, talking and listening to some of Dirk’s mixes on his laptop. Caliborn was a double-edged blade, but luckily Dirk knew his way around swords. As long as Dirk didn’t try to make the conversation personal, Caliborn was almost tolerable.

Dirk found that Caliborn’s obsession with games hadn’t changed, and he explained that he hoped to one day be a game designer, creating new puzzles and twisted games to traumatize masochistic teenagers. Dirk mentioned chess and he immediately saw the look in the pale boy’s eyes. They spent an hour playing on his laptop. Dirk won every time.

  “It’s your laptop, you probably rigged it.” Caliborn had hissed after his fourth loss, furiously shutting the computer.

  “How could I possibly rig a digital chess game?”

  “I don’t how but you did it!”

Dirk couldn’t help but laugh, and Caliborn’s reaction was almost instant.

  “I should probably head out, its getting dark-“

  “Why are you laughing?”

Dirk packed up his laptop into his bag, shrugging.

  “You get so worked up; it’s amusing.”

 Caliborn scowled and pushed up from his seat on the bench.

  “So you’re amused with me?” He growled.

Dirk considered this.

  “Yeah, I am. I wanted to hang out didn’t I?”

Caliborn was silent.

Both men moved towards the entrance to the park.

  “So, you live around here?”

  “Yes. I live down the street.” He muttered, nodding to the right of the entrance, leading down a dark street, lined by trees.

  “Down the street?” Dirk stared down the road, forest were the only neighbours, other than the driveway at the end that lead deeper into the woods.

  “Isn’t that the English mansion?” Dirk asked, something in the back of his mind itched.

Caliborn scratched his arm.

  “Yes…”

  “You… Caliborn English. How didn’t I think of this before? You live there? You live in the English Mansion?” He stopped to stare at the shorter boy. Caliborn didn’t look proud of this fact at all, in fact he looked… disgusted.

  “Yes, I’m Caliborn fucking English. Son to the mighty Lord English and brother to Calliope piece-of-shit English. I’m filthy stinking rich and up to my ears in verbal fucking abuse. Congratulations, you know my heritage.”

Calliope English. A memory flashed in the back of Dirk’s mind. Hadn’t he read something in the newspaper a few years back?

‘English progeny suffers severe head trauma.’

‘Second month in hospitalization- English girl still in Coma’

  “You… Wasn’t someone in your family hospitalized?”

Caliborn stiffened.

  “Your sister. Calliope? Calliope was in a coma?”

The boy turned on him.

Dirk was too busy retracing the memories to step back when Caliborn fisted both of his hands into his shirt, turning and slamming him into the wire fence. Despite his size, he had strength.

  “How. Do you know. My sister?”

Dirk was stunned.

  “I’ve never once mentioned her, and you know her name and you know she’s my sister. I know her hospitalization was in the newspaper but that was years ago. Who are you?”

His grip moved to Dirk’s neck, causing the breath to freeze in his lungs.

  “Dirk Strider.” He gasped.

  “What do you want with me? Are you under cover? Trying to find something out? Did I try to kill my sister, is that what you want to know?”

Caliborn’s expression was crazy with fear and fury.

  “No- I’m not- I’m nobody-“ Dirk hissed, digging his nails into Caliborn’s wrists, making the boy loosen his grip just enough to breathe. He wasn’t about to engage this kid in battle, not yet.

  “Let go.” He commanded.

  “No. Not until you tell me who the fuck you are and what you want with me and my sister.” The kid was shaking, his red eyes wild.

  “Is she alive?” Dirk grunted.

Caliborn opened his mouth to respond and paused, his mouth dry.

  “Unfortunately.”

  “Where is she.”

  “Riverside Mental Hospital.”

That’s all he wanted.

Dirk twisted Caliborn’s wrist and shoved him away, snatching up his laptop bag and making a run for it.

  “What are you going to do? Get back here!” Caliborn’s panicked questions followed Dirk until he couldn’t hear his voice anymore.

Calliope had been hospitalized four years ago from severe head trauma and put into a coma for over two months. Now she was living in the Riverside Mental Hospital. Calliope was alive, but by the sound of it, just barely.

And from what Dirk had understood, Caliborn had something to do with her near-death experience.

Dirk ran four blocks into town before slowing to a walk, panting heavily as he pulled out his phone. He checked to make sure Caliborn hadn’t followed him before sending the text to Roxy.

 

TT-I found Calliope.-

 

Moments later there was a reply.

 

TG-OMG is she ok? where is she???-

 

TT-Riverside Mental Hospital.-

There wasn’t a response for a couple minutes as Dirk trudged to his apartment.

 

TG-when can we go?-

 

TT-Whenever you’re ready.-

 

TG-i'll be home by 2-

 

TT-See you then.-

 

He slipped his phone back into his pocket and unlocked the door to his home, swiftly making his way inside and locking the door behind him.

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.


	6. RiverSide Mental Hospital

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is were the plot starts to show

  “Alright Dirky, whats our plan of attack?” Roxy walked along side Dirk as they marched up the stairs leading to the prison-like building that was RiversideMental hospital.

  “We walk in and say we want to visit Calliope English.” Dirk replied.

Roxy looked disappointed..

  “What, no stealthy attacks or interrogations? Parkouring over the roof and jumping in through a skylight-“

  “You’ve been playing too much Assassins Creed.” Dirk cut her off.

  “More like not enough.” Roxy winked.

As they approached the institutes double doors, Dirk stepped in front of Roxy, pulling her to the side.

  “Look, play time’s over rox’. You have to be prepared, alright? This is a mental hospital.”

  “I know what it is Dirky, and my darling Callie is trapped inside! She is the damsel in disress and I am her noble prince- or I guess that would be you.” Roxy giggled at herself.

  “Roxy.” Dirk gripped her shoulder firmly, this got her attention.

  “You don’t… We don’t know what we’ll find in there. The Calliope we meet… might not be Calliope. She could be out of her mind. She could be a vegetable.” He softened.

  “We just need to be prepared for what we find. I don’t want you to be disappointed.”

Roxy’s gaze dropped though a smile still lingered on her lips.

  “It’ll be her Dirk. Even if she’s sick or mute or crazy I don’t care. She’s still Callie.”

Dirk sighed and stepped back.

  “Alright… Here we go then.”

 

  “Hey.” The waiting line was pathetically small, a mere ten minute wait and Dirk and Roxy were at the front desk.

A pretty blond sat at the desk, looking up at them expectantly.

  “How may I help you?”

  “We’re visitors. We’d like to see Calliope English.”

The woman’s eyebrows rose.

  “Visitors for Calliope? No one’s come to see her in months.”

Dirk and Roxy looked at eachother.

  “How are you related to her?”

  “We’re old friends!” Roxy said.

  “We’ve been away traveling for about six years, when we tried to get in touch with Callie, we were shocked to find out about what happened. We had to come see her.” Dirk finished.

  “She’s never had friends visit. Her mother apparently used to visit regularly, but that was before I started here… and I’ve been here about two years. Now she only comes every few months.” The women gave a sad smile and slid a clipboard in front of them.

  “I’ll just have you sign here, first and last name please, along with who you’re visiting. I’ll have Micheal here escort you to the visiting room.”

Moments later a tanned man dressed in scrubs approached them and began to lead them through the maze of white-walled hallways.

  “Do the patients get to interact with each other or go outside?” Roxy asked the man.

  “Whether the patients are allowed outside or around other patients depends on their behavior and obedience.”

  “Obedience? You make them sound like dogs…” She muttered and the man shot a glance back at her before continuing down the hall towards a large room with glass double doors. The man lead them inside and sat them down at a four seated table.

  “Wait here please.” The man instructed and then walked through another set of doors.

Roxy gripped Dirk’s hand under the table and watched the doors. Dirk couldn’t help but look around the room, scattered with tables. It looked similar to a cafeteria. There were large windows about six feet off the ground to be sure they were out of reach, and an upright piano under one of them. Multiples of board games sat stacked next to one of the tables and Dirk could see an older man playing monopoly with two younger girls.

This area wasn’t under terribly high surveillance. He hoped this was a good sign.

As time went on, Dirk noticed Roxy beginning to bite her lip anxiously.

  “Relax Rox.” He hummed just as the door swung open and they saw the man appear. He held the door, and a girl walked in behind him.

She held herself upright, though her green eyes remained locked on the ground. Her white blond hair was shaggily cut short and she kept biting at her lip, just as Roxy did. Her frame was thin and her arms looked almost skeletal, small hands gripping each other tight at the ends of them. She wore a plain white set of shirt and pants, pastel green slippers covering her feet. She looked so fragile.

Roxy audibly gasped.

  “Calliope.”


	7. Visitors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gets a little chaotic.

At the mention of her name, she looked up. Brilliant green eyes laying onto her visitors. Dirk gripped Roxy’s shaking hand.

But when she saw them, there was barely a reaction. Her lips parted slightly as though to speak, and then she looked around the room, as though searching for something. Finally, she looked back on the man who had guided her there.

  “I… Thought you said I had visitors.” She asked.

Dirk’s heart dropped. She didn’t remember them. He gripped Roxy’s hand tighter.

  “You do, Miss English. There, sitting at the table. The young man and woman, they claim to be your friends.”

She looked back at them, concern rising in her eyes.

  “No. No there’s no one there.”

  “They’re right there, Miss. English.”

  “There isn’t anyone there. They’re not real. Is this another test?” Calliope looked slightly shaken now.

Roxy was standing suddenly.

  “Callie. Callie, we are real. We’re right here. Its me, Roxy. It’s Roxy and Dirk.”

Calliope outright ignored them, she kept staring at the man.

  “There’s no one there.”

  “No, Miss. English. She said her name was Roxy. Do you know her?”

Confusion overcame Calliope’s expression and she finally laid her eyes upon Roxy’s.

  “You can see them?”

Dirk stood.

  “Calliope.”

Her eyes widened.

  “You’re real?”

Roxy nodded shakily, wiping tears from her eyes before they fell.

  “Yeah you silly billy, of course we’re real.”

Before anything else could be said, Calliope had attached herself to Roxy in the tightest hug possible.

As soon as Callie had started moving the man had started to move to grab her, but Dirk stopped him.

  “It’s called a hug. Relax. We haven’t seen the girl in at least five years.”

The man stepped back, still apprehensive but after a few minutes he left to go watch them from the door.

  “How did you get here? How did you find me?” Calliope asked, she and Roxy seated across from each other holding hands across the table; wiping the tears from each others faces.

  “When the game ended Dirky and I remembered, even though no one else did. We found each other and moved up here to escape bad reminders.” Roxy explained. “And then Dirk here found Caliborn.”

Calliope flinched at the mention of her brother’s name and turned her attention to Dirk.

  “What do you mean, you found him?”

  “I started art school and he was in my class, I thought maybe I could help him become a regular kid.”

  “He doesn’t remember.” Calliope muttered.

  “I know.”

  “Brother is the reason I’m in here.” She said, her gaze burning into the table.

  “So I’ve heard. I managed to trick him into telling me where you were.”

Her green eyes shot up.

  “You were looking for me?”

  “Of course we were! I’ve been thinking of you constantly.” Roxy pulled at Callie’s hands.

  “I… Everyone told me I was crazy. So…” The girl lowered her voice.

  “The game was real? Everything was real? It happened? My brother and I, we really were cherubs?”

Roxy nodded frantically.

  “All those memories are true.”

  “Those bastards! I’ve been locked up in here all this time for having a brain in my head that works!” Calliope huffed.

Roxy laughed at that and Callie managed a sigh.

Dirk leaned forward, resting his arms on the table and he looked at the pale girl.

  “Callie… You have to tell us… How did you get in here?”

  “You mean you don’t know?” She responded, surpised.

  “Nope. Cal only told Dirk where you were.”

  “And I remembered a news article saying you had fallen down a flight of stairs and were in a coma.”

Calliope blinked.

  “Honestly, I don’t remember that. I’ve heard of it, of course, but my memories of this world start when I awoke in the hospital four years ago. Since then I’ve been told multiple stories, that I tripped and fell down the stairs, giving me a severe head injury and planting me in the hospital where I lay comatose for three months. When I woke up I was reported to have amnesia and to have completely lost my mind. When in actuality, I suppose I had found it. I lived with my supposed 'family' for about two weeks before my brother ran his mouth and told everyone I was bonkers.” Calliope pondered this.

  “So… you tripped and fell down the stairs?” Roxy questioned.

Calliope leaned back and sighed.

  “I really don’t know. Other than my four years in this institute, all my memories are of my life as a cherub. They used to try and interrogate me to see if someone had pushed me. I wouldn’t be surprised if my brother had tried to kill me, but with no witnesses and no memory… Well, They couldn’t do much with it could they?”

  “I suppose not…” Dirk sighed.

  “Look, Callie, we have to get you out of here! You’re not crazy!” Roxy hissed.

  “I know I’m not. Have fun trying to convince them.” Callie nodded her head towards the men dressed in white standing by the door.

By this point, more patients and visitors had filed into the room to chatter.

Dirk noticed the boy who took a seat at the piano, quickly gaining an audience of two or three and filling the room with music.

  “Oh- I almost forgot… This is so exciting. I must tell Karkat!”

  “Karkat?” Roxy echoed.

  “That name sounds familiar… Wasn’t… Wasn’t he one of the trolls? In the game?”

  “Precisely!” Calliope nodded excitedly and turned to a boy sitting at a far table, one closest to the piano.

  “Hey! Karkat! Come here a moment!”

The boy looked up, giving Roxy and Dirk a clear look of his red eyes. He slowly moved from his table to theirs, lingering for a moment next to the piano.

  “What is it Callie, I’m busy.” He grumbled, but trailed off as he saw the two visitors sitting at the table. His reaction was similar to Calliope’s when she first saw them, except his jaw dropped. Roxy gave a small wave.

Karkat’s eyes shot back to Calliope.

  “Its real. It was all real.”

  “You’re shitting me.”

  “I most certainly am not.” Calliope scoffed.

Karkat began to inspect Dirk and Roxy by poking their shoulders and sniffing at them before Dirk threatened to rip off his nose and he backed off.

  “You look so much like Dave.” The former-troll stated.

Something turned in Dirk’s heart.

  “Yeah.”

  “Have you seen him?”

  “He’s still down in Texas as far as I know.”

  “Still writing shitty comics?”

  “Probably.”

Awkward pause.

  “What were you guys like boyfriends or something?” Roxy inquired and Karkat puffed up like an angry cat.

  “No way! Eugh He was my best friend!” He hissed.

  “Alright Alright!” Roxy laughed and Karkat wrinkled his nose at her. Calliope fawned over him like he was her pet and shoved him into the seat next to her.

  “So, the game was real and you guys are investigating Calliope’s attempted murder case and trying to bust her out of mental-prison.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Can you bust me out too?” Karkat asked, looking at them expectantly.

  “Hopefully, but honestly whether you get out or not is most likely up to you. Good behavior and all that jazz.” Dirk said. Karkat rolled his eyes and slouched in his chair.

  “Well then I guess I’m gunna die here.”

Calliope smacked his shoulder.

  “Don’t say things like that.”

Roxy eyed both of them.

  “So are you guys like a thing?”

Calliope and Karkat’s eyes widened and they took one look at each other and stuck out their tongues in disgust.

  “No offence Karkat, but no way!”

  “Once again- EUGH! No way, she’s my best friend!”

  “And anyways, Karkat is wheeling someone else!” Calliope chirped.

  “What- I am not!”

  “Are too. I see the way you look at him!”

  “He used to be my friend how do you expect me to look at him?”

  “Not with such lustful longing that’s how!”

  “Its not lustful!-“

  “Woah woah, calm down girls before I send your asses to the principles office. Who are you talking about?” Dirk cut them off, Roxy was too busy laughing to intercede.

  “Theres another boy here from the game, Karkat felt so flushed for that boy, well, it shows on his face now.” Calliope giggled and sure enough the boy’s face was a solid red. It nearly matched his eyes.

  “Whooo!” Roxy laughed, enjoying the gossip.

  “Callie shut your fucking mouth-“

  “His name is John, It’s the one who resembles Jane!” Callie whispered and Karkat buried his face in his hands.

  “John Egbert! He’s here?” Roxy whipped her head around.

  “Over there, at the piano!”

They all looked.

There sat the boy with dark brown hair, glasses perched on his nose and smiling into the keys as he played.

  “Wowee it is him. Has he ever grown.” Roxy pretended to swoon and Karkat looked as though he would launch himself over the table at her.

  “Why don’t you call him over? He should be in on this shouldn’t he?” Dirk suggested.

Calliope bit her lip and glanced at Karkat, who was still staring at the boy.

  “Don’t bother.”

  “What, why?”

Karkat pressed his lips together into a fine line.

  “He doesn’t remember.”

Dirk looked at the pair sitting across from him.

  “But then… Why is he here?”

Karkat refused to answer, his gaze still locked in place.

  “They shocked it out of him.”

Dirk’s stomach turned.

Roxy stared at the boy.

  “They… What?”

  “He used to remember. And they shocked it out of him.” Karkat’s teeth clenched and he tore his gaze away.

  “That can't be legal." Dirk breathed.

  "There has to be something we could do. Maybe we could jumpstart his memory! We managed to do that with our friends-“

  “No! No you can’t. He doesn’t remember. He doesn’t remember me and he never will!” Karkat yelled, pushing out of his seat.

The room went silent and John looked up from the piano keys.

Karkat caught John’s gaze for just an instant and tears were falling.

  “No. Don’t you look at me. You have no fucking right to look at me! Fuck you for forgetting! You hear me John Egbert? Fuck you!” Karkat cried. John looked terrified and suddenly men dressed in scrubs were grabbing Karkat and pulling him from the room.

Dirk jumped up.

  “Hey- be careful! What are you doing!?”

Calliope had her hands pressed firmly over her ears, her frail body shaking.

  “Callie? Callie shh, its okay.”

The man from earlier came up behind Dirk and tapped him on the shoulder.

  “Excuse me sir, we’re going to have to ask you to leave.”

Dirk turned around.

  “What? Why?”

  “You can come back next week. Miss. English needs her medicine.”

  “Medicine? In the hour I’ve been here she hasn’t shown one sign of psychosis or any other illness.” Dirk growled.

  “Sir, she is in our care. She acts the way she does because of the medicine she takes.”

  “Have you ever tried cutting her medicine? Seeing if she goes nuts?”

  “That’s not a risk we can take. Now, please leave.”

Calliope was recovering, Roxy patting her lightly on the back.

  “Shh, its okay honey. He’ll be okay right?”

  “This always happens. This is why he can’t leave. It’s because of his temper. What if they make him forget too? What if they make him forget and then it’s only me?” Callie whimpered.

  “You’ll never be alone again honey, you have us now. We’ll be back.” Roxy kissed her temple lightly before moving from her seat.

  “You promise? You promise you’ll come back?”

  “Of course.”

Roxy and Dirk stood next to one another and looked around the room. Conversation had built up again since Karkat left, though John still sat, staring after him. A nurse had gone to comfort him.

  “We’ll be back, and we’re going to get you out of here.”

 


	8. Game plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see guys! Chapter eight is finally out to show that yes, I am continuing this fic. After nearly a year hiatus? Yeah, it's been a wee bit. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

It was Tuesday evening, two days after they had visited Calliope at Riverside, and there Roxy and Dirk sat, quiet and determined. Dirk flicked through the channels on the TV mindlessly and Roxy sat next to him on the couch, head in her hands.

  "What are we gonna do, Dirky?"

The visiting hours at the hospital were inconvenient for the pair during the week, because of Dirk's school and Roxy's job, so they had the week to pace around each other, asking impatient questions.

  "I don't know, Rox." Clicked past another channel.

  "We have to get her out of there. Karkat too."

  "We have to think this through, we can't just.. Bust them out."

Roxy sat up to lean against the back of the couch, running fingers through her blond hair.

  "But- But there's got to be something. She's been in there for _four fucking years_ , Dirk!"

He slammed the remote down on the table.

  "I don't know, Roxy. Okay? We'll get her out, we will, but I don't know how we're going to do it. We have to be careful. This is serious shit, they think she's crazy. You heard what they did to John. We screw up and that could be Calliope. Hell- we mess up and we might even get ourselves landed behind those suffocating walls." Roxy flinched at the firmness in Dirk's voice. She forced back the tears that threatened to spill because she could see even Dirk was having trouble holding back his emotion.

But something else popped into her head at his words.

  "Wait but... But Dirk what if we did end up in RiverSide? What if-"

  "No."

"Let me finish!"

  "No I know what you're going to say and it's a shitty idea."

  "If we got in we could help get them out from the inside!"

Dirk turned to face her. 

  "This isn't some TV show Roxy, or a game where we have void or heart powers. We're lame boring old humans and we're not heroes."

Roxy looked at Dirk with determination.

  "But we could be."

Dirk groaned and got up from his seat, heading to the kitchen. He could practically hear the gears in Roxy's head turning.

  "Come on- Hear me out! If we could get inside, maybe we could go in as patients and see what Callie's living with- figure out what she needs to do to get out! Or wait even better- I'll go in as a patient and you can get in as like... I don't know, nurse in training?"

  "I'm pretty sure we can just as easily use the internet to get answers. Besides, I have school and someone has to keep an eye on Caliborn." Dirk pulled a box of cereal from the cupboard.

  "Frootloops for Dinner, Dirk? Really? Anyways, I'm sure we could figure out something, maybe I could go alone? I could get in and keep an eye on Callie and you could stay out here and watch Caliborn."

The Strider poured Roxy a bowl and made his way back over to the couch, handing Roxy hers.

  "Better than alcohol. And no, you're not surrendering yourself to a Mental Health Center. That's the end of that. Though I will definitely be sticking around to keep an eye on Caliborn... He wasn't in class today."

  "He wasn't?" Roxy looked up, concern flaring up in her eyes as she took her cereal. Concern for Caliborn? Unlikely. More likely was concern for what he was up to.

  "Nope. Not one sign of the formerly green and homicidal cherub." He took his place back on the couch.

  "Well... Fine I'll come up with something else for now... But if Plan B doesn't work Plan A becomes our Plan C."

Dirk rolled his eyes behind his shades.

  "Okay so; If you're keeping an eye on Caliborn, I'll visit Calliope every spare moment I get and work on a plan to get her out... You need to find out why Caliborn pushed his sister down the stairs or... If he even did in the first place. Earning his trust back is gonna take a lot of effort!"

  "Alright well, do you have any suggestions as to how I'm going to make Caliborn love me enough to share deep dark personal secrets with me?"

  "Just talk to him about stupid misogynistic stuff and help him write comics!"

  "Roxy, do remember the part of my weekend I told you about where Caliborn, a scrawny kid nearly a head shorter than me, pinned me against a fence and almost snapped my neck."

  "Kinky."

  " _Roxy._ "

  "What! Come on Dirky, you can beat anyone in a fight. You're faster than anyone out there- he just... caught you off guard. Besides I bet if you bought him a five pound bag of sugar and a few slabs of meat he'd be hanging off you in seconds." Roxy rose up from her seat, placing her cereal down on the table so she could dramatically press the back of one hand to her forehead and the other over her heart.

  "Oh Dirk Strider, you are the most filthy disgusting human I know and I love every inch of your fleshy vile body!" She swooned, doing her best to impersonate the former-cherub's scratchy growl of a voice. Dirk gagged in response and smacked Roxy's leg, who then slumped back down into the couch with a laugh.

  "The idea of Caliborn and I even being _friends_ is a stretch at this point." Dirk stated, scooping a spoonful of his cereal.

  "You gotta try! Caliborn's gotta stay distracted while I work my magic, and after Callie's out, we gotta make sure Caliborn won't try and finish the job!"

Dirk ran his fingers through his hair, Roxy's only hint towards his exasperation.

  "Okay. Okay fine. Where do we start?"

Roxy beamed.

  "Sweet! Okay so tomorrow I'll call in sick to work and visit Callie to tell her what we're up to-"

  "Rox, you can't miss work." Dirk said sternly.

  "What's more important here!" She huffed.

  "Paying rent and eating is pretty important."

  "It's just one day- RiverSide is only open 11-4 on weekdays Dirk and I can't wait until Saturday! Here- I'll put a day's works worth of my booze money into the grocery jar."

Dirk pursed his lips at his roommate. That wasn't a bad deal. Meant less drinking for Roxy and no money loss.

  "Alright fine, but you better not lose your job." Dirk finished his cereal and Roxy gave a cheer as she shoveled down her dinner, continuing to jabber on and explain everything she planned to say to Calliope the next day.

And Dirk was stuck hoping maybe Caliborn would at least show up for class and maybe he wouldn't try to cut off his air circulation by skipping right past the strangling part and ripping his lungs out of his chest instead. Yeah. Positive thinking.

Tomorrow sure was going to be a day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I know it's not the longest and not a lot happens, but well you get some Roxy and Dirk shenanigans.


End file.
